Paul Strome

To My Contributors, With Thanks

To My Contributors, With Thanks

December 15, 2021 at 11:49 am

The Cape Breton Spectator would be a shadow of itself were it not for the work of its regular contributors, each of whom writes with such clarity and focus and passion that reading, editing and formatting their work counts among the best parts of my job. I can’t thank themRead More

Procrastination is Killing Us

Procrastination is Killing Us

September 29, 2021 at 1:06 pm

Great ideas to address climate change already exist — there are thousands of them — but they need to be categorized by the degree of impact they would have on climate change mitigation. Luckily, some authors have attempted this categorization. Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse GlobalRead More

Climate Code Red

Climate Code Red

September 15, 2021 at 12:04 pm

During this week’s federal leaders’ debates, all participants verified they had worked together in a non-partisan way to battle COVID-19. COVID and its variants do not discriminate — everyone is vulnerable to some degree. And Canadians, because we were all at risk, pulled together in a way that mirrored whatRead More

Paul Strome’s Election Priorities

Paul Strome’s Election Priorities

July 28, 2021 at 2:06 pm

Editor’s Note: Spectator contributor Paul Strome sent along this open letter to candidates in the upcoming provincial elections, presented as a list of his chief concerns.   Reconciliation and the 94 recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission are not just federal issues. Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and GirlsRead More

Proposed Goldboro LNG Terminal (Source; Pieridae

Fool’s Goldboro?

May 26, 2021 at 12:17 pm

Canada is the only G7 country still emitting GHG emissions way above 1990 levels — 21% above. Compare that to the US, which is on par with its 1990 levels, the 27 EU countries that are 25% below their 1990 levels or the UK, whose emissions are 42% below 1990Read More

2018 site preparation for proposed Goldboro LNG project. Photo: Alexander Bridge courtesy Halifax Examiner https://www.halifaxexaminer.ca/province-house/the-goldboro-gamble/

Pieridae’s Goldboro Debacle

May 5, 2021 at 1:32 pm

Something the vast majority of Canadians don’t seem to realize is that we, as citizens, are on the hook for cleaning up billions (if not trillions) of dollars’ worth of environmental waste across the country. Industries continue dumping their waste into the laps of citizens, who are completely unaware ofRead More

Unofficial Earth Day flag featuring The Blue Marble photo of Earth taken by the Apollo 17's crew. (Dcoetzee, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Earth Day Choice: Urgency or Complacency?

April 21, 2021 at 12:32 pm

Most people on the planet are trying to make a living one way or another. We all need the essentials of life and they all come from Mother Earth — food, clothing and shelter. Our current geologic time period has been called the Anthropocene because it is the age duringRead...

In Support of Biodiversity

In Support of Biodiversity

April 14, 2021 at 12:47 pm

It took public pressure to get the Lahey Report (“An Independent Review of Forest Practices in Nova Scotia“) off the ground but once completed, it contained summaries like this one: My conclusion is that ecological forestry must be pursued on Crown and private lands with a combination of tools thatRead More

Aerial view of Canso Causeway, 2007. (Photo by Swampfoot at English Wikipedia, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Rethinking the Causeway

February 17, 2021 at 1:49 pm

For thousands of years, the diverse marine life in the southern part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence prospered as the waters of the Atlantic Ocean mixed with those of the Gulf. The ebb and flow of huge volumes of salt water brought food and myriad whales, fish, lobster, crabRead More

Quebec's "Running Electrically" symbol

Time for Electrifying Ideas

February 3, 2021 at 11:15 am

Most people who live in a ‘free country’ like Canada believe they have the right to a healthy environment. We feel we are entitled to all that is imbedded in that philosophy — clean water, fresh air, healthy food, etc. Those of us who live in a rural setting (18%Read More